Kelty Hearts 0 Inverness Caledonian Thistle 1
It's Friday afternoon and Charlie Christie is on the road. He conducts more than 1,200 miles, there and back, to see his son.
However, the executive director of Inverness Caledonian Thistle has not abandoned his duties when it comes to finding a buyer for the club.
“I was talking with the administrators this morning and there are two or three strong statements of interest,” he says. 'These people have asked serious consultations, asking the right questions. Then there are possibilities.
Christie heads south to see her son, Ryan, play for Bournemouth. It is the 30th birthday weekend of the Scottish internationalist. Christie Junior is a Premier League player now, but the family is always intertwined with ICT.
That was one of the main reasons why Christie Senior intervened as executive director when the club entered the administration last October. “Alan Savage was also key to that decision,” he says, referring to the Inverness businessman who has entered to address debts and find a buyer for the club. “I have a total respect for him as a businessman and as a person.”
Christie believes that there has been significant progress. “I feel that the fans base has increased and there is no disappointment that existed under the previous regime,” he says.
Charlie and Ryan Christie during the latter as a player with his beloved Caley thistle
Ryan now has high performance with Bournemouth, but has not forgotten the difficult situation of his former club
The Highland Club is now fighting for its survival after the descent to the administration.
A fan, of course, has also played for Inverness Caledonian and Inverness Thistle, as well as in Caledonian Inverness thistle. He has been a manager, director of the Academy and now Executive Director. It is also a hero.
His part in the victory of the Scottish Cup over Celtic 26 years ago has never been forgotten. “It was my best day in a football field,” he says simply. 'Some of my friends say that the club is in my DNA and I suppose that is true. But my feeling is that it is not about what I or the young man (Ryan) we have done for the club. It is what the club has done for us.
'A businessman who is a fan recently told me that he knows when I make a decision is for the good of the club and not for the sake of me. I am at the age when I don't worry much personally. I am already established my children have done well, so it's about the club '.
Christie would like to play a role in the club's restructuring when the new buyers enter, but is anxious to restore the close links with the local community. 'That was strong when we were in the League of the highland, but I feel that we have lost a little of that over the years. It would be great to bring him back.
'You expect us to turn around and things improve. We know there is light at the end of the tunnel.
As the road develops to Bournemouth, it addresses the role that your son has played in the club. Ryan, of course, played for Caley Thistle from 2013 to 2015 before the spectacular success in Celtic and then in the cherries, where he is willing to a place in the EPL team of the year.
There have been reports that the midfielder has given £ 20,000 to Highland Club, but his father says: 'I don't know about that. I asked the young man but I don't have an answer. Everything I get is a smile and says nothing. But I know he has helped the academy over the years when they have needed goals or any other team. ''
It has also recruited some EPL support for ICT. “Marcus Tavernier and Antoine Semenyo always ask how the club is,” says Christie of Bournemouth players. “And, in my bag, I have a club shirt for the Bournemouth chef that is now a fan.”
Pure delight after Alfie Bavidge gets the winner of Inverness in Kelty Hearts on Saturday
Travelers are ecstatic since their favorites collect three vital points in FIFE
Inverness Caley Thistle is doing everything possible to survive the rigors of the football of the League one
It is Saturday afternoon and David Chiffers has been on the way from the morning. “Yes, it has taken us approximately two and a half hours,” he says after parking the car out of New Central Park for the League one match with Kelty. His eight -year -old grandson, Mason, has been riding a shotgun from Inverness to the deepest life.
“He has been coming since he was three years old,” says Grandad. “So he has seen us in a final of the Cup against Celtic in 2023 and witnessed us in the administration.”
He adds: 'I have been here from the beginning in 1994.'
The club was formed as a result of the fusion between Inverness Caledonian and Inverness Thistle. “I was thus before that,” says Chiffers.
It is optimistic about the future. 'I think we are going to the other side. I believe in Alan Savage and Charlie Christie. I feel that we are building again and I prefer to consider it as exciting moments in which we could get out of everything stronger '.
Andrew Moffat, of the Wyness Shuffle podcast, also walks to the stadium with a relative spring in its path.
“We are in a state of flow, so it is obviously a bit worrying,” he says. “But the approach is to go beyond Annan at the League table and outside the place of descent play-off.”
He says the administration was “the best course of action due to what happened under the previous administration.” He adds: 'It is a necessary evil and we have had to go through it. Alan Savage is a successful businessman who has the interests of the heart club and his goals align with fans. We want to become a solvent club with links to the community. Charlie Christie is simply Caley Thistle. So these are the ideal boys to take the club forward.
The Inverness Manager, Scott Kellache, urges his players during the game with Kelty Hearts
Kelty's boss, Charlie Mulgrew, tries to do the same, but his team was defeated 1-0 at home
A job is done for the thistle of Inverness Caledonian after a very necessary victory on the road
And football under the manager Scott Kellacher? “It's exciting, adventurer, with many young players,” he says. “Alfie Bavidge can get you out of your seat.
Two hours later, he does. The striker, on the loan of Aberdeen, notes the only goal of the game to take Caley Thistle at a surprising distance from Annan.
It is Friday afternoon and the manager is planning the way ahead. 'It has been frantic. But I have always wanted to do the job, 'says Scot Kellacher, designated following the administration.
'I have worked here from children under 9 years. I love the club. It is my life and has been for 21 years.
He doesn't say this lightly. Kellache has known the dark times. In 2021, he was taken to the hospital with viral encephalitis and then contracted Covid.
“It took me a long time to recover,” he says. 'Viral encephalitis implies swelling in the brain and spine. Covid hit at the same time. I was hit hard. I was oxygen for 12 days. It involved five or six months of recovery. It was a really difficult experience for the family. I have slowly returned to the rhythm of things.
Do not shrink the totally different challenges raised by the administration. “I am the type of man who will not immerse the foot of the foot. I am all inside.”
Born and Inverness raised, he has always had a link with the club. 'If there were ever a moment, you would do everything possible to help the club, it is now. I'm giving him everything I have, 'he says.
Inverness Fan David Chiffers and Nieto Mason were rewarded for the long trip to Kelty
Andrew Moffat of the Podcast Wyness Shuffle says that the administration was the best for the club
Fans enjoy the perfect Saturday environment while Kelty Hearts prepares to organize Inverness
Determined to be positive in the face of the tests, Kellacher has been helped by High Performance coach Donald Macnaughton to build an optimistic spirit in the club.
'We have all been relentless in training, so we have the best opportunity to ascend in the League. I have excellent employees and players and we are pulling in the same direction, '' he says.
'We need to give ourselves an opportunity to fight to keep us safe. We have a very young team and we are all learning. I'm getting a little quieter. I understand the side of the things of the players and my own side of things and then I can find the best scenario to move forward.
'It has been a roller coaster. But when people go to a roller coaster they do to enjoy it. I have enjoyed it.
He adds: 'It's hard work, but I want it. Some of the moments we have had this season will live with me for the rest of my life. I was coach of the first team when we won the Scottish Cup in 2015. I have seen the best but, with the administration, I have also seen the worst. I know where we want to get there.
At 5 pm on a Saturday at FiFe, Kelcher speaks while praising his players and traveler fans. The immediate trip has returned to Inverness. Three points are the most important travel companions.